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Davenport Council: New meeting schedule gets positive reviews

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By Tory Brecht | Thursday, January 17, 2008 1:10 AM CST | () comments

The meeting was more marathon than sprint, but Davenport aldermen seem content with the City Council’s new schedule set up.

A full slate of committee meetings was dropped into the middle of the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting for the first time Wednesday, and despite a relatively light agenda the festivities ran for more than three hours.

Still, even those who opposed doing away with the old Thursday committee meetings — in the name of efficiency and eliminating confusion by the public over multiple meeting dates — were satisfied that the kinks of the new schedule will work out.

“Even though I’m not in favor of the new structure, I have to say it went smoothly and professionally,” said 2nd Ward Alderman Shawn Hamerlinck, who voted against moving committees to Wednesdays during a vote held at a Jan. 7 council goal setting session. “It was long, but that was the decision eight aldermen made.”

A couple of presentations, one introducing the 17 members of the Volunteers in Police Service team — which drew a standing ovation from the crowd in chambers — and a second on the possibility of burying power lines along Northwest Boulevard, took up a good portion of the meeting time.

The Community and

Economic Development Committee, which examining proposed changes in Menard’s new site plan on Brady Street before finally deciding to table it for further study, lasted nearly an hour itself.

The meeting began at 5:30 p.m. and ended at 8:35 p.m., shortly after the public was allowed to address the council.

There were also a couple of technical glitches. The chairmen of the four committees had difficulty calling on their committee members because their computer screens don’t register the call lights like the mayor’s does. That prompted Hamerlinck to ask, and receive, discretionary spending from the Finance Committee to upgrade the technology to overcome that handicap. The cost is expected to be about $2,500.

Mayor Bill Gluba, who pushed for the meeting structure change, said he was pleased.

“So far, so good,” he said during a 10 minute recess held before the last committee meeting, when several aldermen headed quickly for the restroom. “We had a lot of things to go over, but we’re conducting a lot of work in one meeting.”

Gluba said he’s in favor of moving some of the lengthier presentations to regular city council meeting nights, as those should become shorter under the new system.

Two audience members, however, expressed displeasure at the changes.

Todd Allan Pirck patiently waited through three hours of council business to speak his peace, complaining that the new schedule excludes folks who need to use public transit and makes it hard to remain alert.

“There used to be an alderman on the council that used to nod off during short committee meetings,” he said. “It’s hard for people to pay attention for three hours.”

Alderman Ray Ambrose, 4th Ward, also voted against changing meeting dates. But Wednesday night went well in his eyes.

“I think it was alright,” he said. “It was positive and upbeat.”

Tory Brecht can be contacted at (563) 383-2329 or tbrecht@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.